With the increasing mortality rates of passengers in vehicles involved in collisions arising from the increased use of motor vehicles and the increased rate of speed at which they are operated, the problem of protecting the passenger in a vehicle has been a major concern and has been addressed in a variety of fashions. Recently, manufacturers have developed various safety devices which are designed to reduce injury to passengers ween the vehicle in which they are riding is involved in collision or impact. Such safety features have included padded dashboards, collapsible steering columns, seat belts and inflatable airbags.
However, the use of such safety devices have tended to reduce serious or fatal injuries to occupants where the collision or impact takes place only at reduced speeds. In instances of higher speed impact, these devices are ineffective to prevent serious injury. It has been demonstrated that collisions occur in less than 125 milliseconds and that the "G" forces are directly dependent upon the speed of the colliding objects and the speed or distance involved in the stop. Deceleration is defined as the rate of decrease of the speed of a moving body. When the force applied is equivalent to the weight of the moving body, this force is defined as a "G" force, being positive in acceleration and negative in deceleration.
Injuries are dependent upon the "G" forces sustained by the passengers. Deceleration and injury are functions of negative acceleration. At 60 miles per hour or 88 feet per second, a vehicle in collision with an immovable object may stop in three feet or less, which equates to an elapsed time of 34 milliseconds. Two automobiles each traveling at 30 miles per hour in a head-on collision would approximate the same speed of a 60 mile per hour collision resulting in "G" forces in the range of 240 or more "G's". If the time involved in the above described collision could be doubled which translates into an additional three feet of "stopping" space, the "G" forces are found to be divisible by four equalling 60 "G's". If this time is tripled or equivalent to nine feet, the "G" forces are divided by nine equalling 26.66 "G's". Therefore, the increased stopping distance or time involved is critical to injuries sustained by an occupant of a vehicle during a collision.
The examination of motor vehicles in head-on collisions with another vehicle or an immovable stationary object indicates that the front portion of the vehicle as far back as the firewall stops in four feet or less which, at 60 miles per hour occurs in about 45 milliseconds or less. The passengers in the front seat of the vehicle will decelerate within approximately four to seven feet or approximately 45 to 79 milliseconds and the passengers in the rear seat have approximately an additional three feet of travel for approximately 79 to 113 milliseconds before impact. Survivability can be equated with "G" forces. Animal and human experimentation has demonstrated that 40 "G's" can be sustained momentarily. Therefore, it is apparent that a "stretching" of time or distance is vehicle collision deceleration is all important to survivability and/or injury to vehicle occupants.
Passengers of vehicles also experience injuries during a collision due to contacting vehicle components such as the steering wheel, gear shift levers and pedals.
A need has thus arisen for a vehicle which allows for increased stopping distances and time for passengers within the vehicle to come to rest during a collision. Such a system must increase the linear deceleration of the passengers which would lessen the forces transmitted to the passengers. A need has further arisen for a vehicle for passengers in which the occupants are removed from a first line of deceleration and impact into a secondary line providing increased stopping distance or time for passengers within the vehicle to come to rest during a collision. A need has further arisen for a vehicle for passengers in which the occupants are removed from the first line of deceleration and impact into a secondary line and causing any impact to be borne by parts of the vehicle and passengers more capable of absorbing said impact forces with less injury. A need has further arisen for a vehicle in which components of a vehicle which may come in contact with a passenger during collision and cause injury are removed from the passenger compartment as the collision occurs and in advance of passenger contact and injury.